SUMMER 2019 – PHOTOS

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Graduate Fog Employers Club – Members’ Summer Lunch
Monday 24th June 2019
The Groucho Club, Soho, London

From the Club’s founder, Tanya de Grunwald:

“Our second lunch event was another big success! We were proud to welcome the UK’s top employers of young people, including Google, Channel 4, KPMG, Royal Mail, Santander, EY, the Financial Times, J. Walter Thompson, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Discovery Education. Retention was the hot topic of our round table discussion (good news for me, as it’s the theme for our autumn event). Also under the spotlight was the challenge of fostering entrepreneurialism in young hires, and the pros and cons of rotational programmes (and how to manage push-back from those who don’t want to move on!). As ever, the group agreed that exchanging solutions to shared challenges was enormously valuable and productive.

“After the main course, I unveiled plans for our autumn media campaign to end unpaid internships in the UK, once and for all. For this, I was delighted to introduce Nat Whalley, director of the online campaigning platform Organise, and James Williams, broadcaster and celebrity booker (James organises the annual GQ Awards) who will both play crucial roles in the campaign. First, I reminded our Club Members that although the corporate world has generally ditched the practice of unpaid internships – understanding its impact on diversity and inclusion – too many unpaid positions still remain in the UK. Next, I underlined why blocking young people from opportunities is not only bad for them, it is also bad for society as a whole. And finally, I explained how our new campaign will unite good employers, young people, industry leaders, celebrities and influencers, and social impact organisations, to make unpaid internships a thing of the past.  As I’d hoped, the group was hugely enthusiastic about our plans (thanks for the applause!) and we have already kicked off discussions with several Club Members who are keen to show their support and get involved. We’ll be in touch with you all in the next week or two, so keep an eye on your inbox.

“Thank you again to everyone who came to the lunch, bringing your energy, ideas and good company. We run the Club – but you are the Club, and we can’t do it without you! See you all in October for our autumn event How to keep them happy: Retaining your young, diverse talent in 2020 and beyond. Further details to follow soon.

Tanya

Photography: Jas Lehal jaslehalphotography.co.uk